Monthly Archives: June 2014

September 27th, 2012 — My workplace for the better part of three years closes suddenly. This is a very hard blow, and took a second family away from me.

October 17th, 2012 — I am officially employed by Lord & Taylor as a Beauty Advisor for Lancôme USA.

May 17th, 2013 — After 7 months to the day, I leave Lord & Taylor. It was a mixture of stress, money, drama (bullying, etc) from some coworkers… Either way, I accepted a new job closer to home.

May 23rd, 2013 — I officially start working at Bon Ton as a Fragrance Consultant, and I start a new phase of life with an extremely supportive group of girls and I start to find out what’s going on with me health-wise. I get to a point where I am almost completely able to go through an entire day with no Xanax. Still not Xanax-free, but I was doing much better.

June 4th, 2013 — Blood tests come back positive for Celiac Disease.

July 22nd, 2013 — Honestly, probably the hardest, most darkest day of my life. My first true experience with the death of a loved one. I had lost my aunt before, but I didn’t really know her. No, on July 22nd, I said goodbye to my dog. My baby boy, a 14 year-old Shih Tzu named King. We had to wait hours before the vet could ease him into the next life. That was the hardest six hours of my life. I had never had to experience anything like that before, and I had never lost a best friend and sibling like that before.

September 18th, 2013 — My first medical procedure, an endoscopy, is scheduled. Then I go to work to find out that my happy place, my lovely group of girls, would be taken away. Bon Ton had eliminated my position. My heart was broken and my stress is through the roof.

October 6th, 2013 — My last day at Bon Ton. Tears, yes, a goodbye party, yes, coincidently… also my last cupcake.

October 7th, 2013 — Diagnosed with Asthmatic Bronchitis, and start my first day at Bon Ton (a different store as a Beauty Advisor for Elizabeth Arden). I go home sick after a RIDICULOUS day. Absolutely pathetic store, that one…

October 8th, 2013 — My doctor faxes my medical leave of absence for the week. I hand in my two weeks as I accepted a position at Sephora.

October 9th, 2013 — Resign my position at Sephora, as I accepted a higher-paying position at Ulta.

October through January — Absolute hell. Couldn’t shake a bad, long asthma attack/bronchitis/pnumonia/double ear and sinus infection. Anxiety reaches a critical point.

Early January 2014 — Ulta no longer puts me on the schedule after giving me only 4 hours a week for a month. So… I don’t work there anymore? (Still haven’t received official notice of termination from holiday position).

January through March — On unemployment, staying home recuperating from breathing issues. Anxiety eases. Depression hits an all-time-high. Unemployment revokes it’s payments and now I’m in debt EVEN MORE. Anxiety rises.

March 3rd, 2014 — Accept a position as a Beauty Advisor at Walgreens. Kind of excited to be in public again.

March through Mid-April — Walgreens is the worst company to work for, with only Ulta as a close second.

April 20th, 2014 — Accept a position as a Beauty Advisor for Origins (all-natural skincare) at Macy’s (for the highest pay grade I’ve had yet! WOOOO!).

April 28th, 2014 — BYE BYE WALGREENS, my first day at Macy’s as an Origins Beauty Advisor (known as a Guide).

Around that week or so — My car craps the bed, R.I.P. my silver 2002 Pontiac Grand Am. Served me faithfully (more or less) for 5 years. Hurts emotionally. Is stressful. Anxiety still high, depression better.

May 5th, 2014 — OFFICIALLY SIGN THE PAPERWORK and pick up my sexy, gorgeous new car, a black 2008 Pontiac G6. Later that day, after staring at it, I realize it looks like Toothless the dragon from How to Train Your Dragon. Officially christen thy car “Toothless.”

May 5th, 2014 through June 1st — Learning my brand and trying to run a counter by myself since there’s no counter manager. Stressful, but anxiety is better for the most part, and depression is only palpable around the edges.

June 1st — right now (8:27pm on June 13th, 2014) — I woke up one day, stopped being late to work, got my head out of my ass, and I am doing stellar at work. The only Origins counter in the vicinity up for the month in terms of sales, I’m building my clientele, I’m getting comfortable in my position and it’s duties (free mini-facials… I always did makeup, not skincare, but now I’m completely comfortable.) My anxiety is still high, but it’s at a manageable level. Depression is doing okay, but it’s getting closer and closer to July 22nd, marking a full year without my dog. That’s hard. Sometimes I still hear him walk, bark, or whine, and pictures make me cry. But I know everything going to be okay. In fact, we’re now emotionally ready for a puppy, our 10 year old is lonely, and I can afford to take care of the vet bills alone, if necessary. Now we’re just mentally preparing ourselves for, you know… puppyhood.

Basically, I’ve had zero time for blogging, but I’ve been taking pictures and swatches (and of course BUYING) all along, so I have a whole boatload of pictures bloating my computer right now, ready to be purged onto this here lil blog. I’ve had a rough year (I’m sure others have had much rougher, but still), but I feel like things are balancing out. I feel like things are looking up, and I feel like more of an adult than ever. I have plans now. Which, when my anxiety and depression is up, I can’t even picture the next day, I’m too busy trying to survive. Wanna know my plans? Too bad, I’m going to tell you anyway.

Step One: paint my room. Going from a safari green that my mom painted in 2006 to a soft taupe-oatmeal kind of color with a soft sea spray accent or two. It’s awesome.

Step Two: Buy a bigger bed. No more bottom-half-of-bunk-bed for me!

Step Three: Pay all my bills a month ahead with my big new paycheck!

Step Four: Live and be happy. As for Step Five? Who knows. And for the first time in a long time, that’s okay.

ALMAY Shadow Softies in 160 Midnight SkyMidnight Sky is a shimmery, metallic dark cobalt. Not as dark as Navy, not as bright as Cobalt. Sapphire, maybe? Either way, it’s gorgeous and has amazing pigmentation.

ALMAY Shadow Softies in 135 Peach Fuzz
Peach Fuzz is a true peach in the pan, but is more pink when swatched. It’s almost a rose gold. A warm shimmery pink. Absolutely amazing.